Projects & Impact

AHP has built its business on applying best practices, many of which we have helped to shape, and real-world, hands-on knowledge to improving systems and business practices for our clients.

In all of the work that we do, we are guided by our mission to improve health and human services systems of care and business operations to help organizations and individuals reach their full potential.

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The Colorado Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) selected a team led by Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Mental Health Program to conduct a needs analysis and scan of existing and promising behavioral health models. AHP worked with the WICHE team, which included NASMHPD Research Institute (NRI), to complete 17 tasks. AHP assessed:

Olmstead v. L.C. legal decision considerations in the provision of state psychiatric beds;

integration of behavioral health and physical health care;

impact of marijuana legalization and prescription drug misuse on CO OBH service needs;

impact of state drug sentencing reform on CO OBH service needs; and

state approaches to support employment and housing for mental health consumers.

The work on tasks included a literature review, environmental scan, key informant interviews, focus groups, and analysis of existing state-level data. A report was prepared for each task and combined into a comprehensive report that included recommendations for Colorado’s OBH.

For this project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), AHP designed and implemented a six-year process and outcome evaluation of 13 grantees, mounting innovative, multilevel state and pilot programs that provided trauma-informed services and supports to veterans involved in the criminal justice system. The goal of the evaluation was to document the implementation of state and local pilot activities by grantees and understand the impact of the pilot program services on client outcomes, in particular behavioral health and recidivism. The key sources of data for the process evaluation include the bi-annual collection of standardized semi-structured reports and two face-to-face site visits. The key sources of data for the client outcomes evaluation include longitudinal in-person interviews and data collected through secondary sources on arrests and services at all 13 sites.

Impact:
The evaluation yielded high quality information that helped inform technical assistance to grantees, as well as provide SAMHSA and the field with information on the key components to implementing state and pilot level programs, and impact of program services on client outcomes.

AHP has been awarded a grant by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct a study of the treatment and aftercare services provided under the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program. The goal of the RSAT Study is to provide NIJ with programmatic knowledge about BJA RSAT-funded treatment and aftercare services. Using a mixed methods design, the study will focus on describing the range and types of substance use treatment, re-entry/release planning activities, and related aftercare services that are provided to offenders through the BJA RSAT program. In particular, the evaluation seeks to identify the application and penetration of evidence-based principles and practices in facilities (jail, prison, juvenile detention) and post-facility with RSAT funds.

Impact:
The study will provide information on the BJA RSAT funded treatment and aftercare services that will both fulfill its legislative mandate under the Second Chance Act to provide a report to Congress and fill an existing knowledge gap that will provide a foundation for supporting BJA programs.